In case you’ve been hiding in a cave over the last few days, here’s a quick rundown of recent news both in Cornwall and around the globe.

A cruise ship crashed. Eleven people died. The captain apparently abandoned his post and refused to go back to help his passengers. He’s been charged with manslaughter, among other things. Here’s a photo of the wreck, as seen from space.

Courtesy of the BBC

Cornwall city council terminated its human resources manager. We saw it coming, though it’s still not clear why it took so long for them to make a decision. The employee, Robert Menagh, was under fire recently for a couple of legal tangles – he even faced charges in a whistleblower case until the city pled guilty and the counts against him were dropped. Council had a slew of closed meetings over the last few months, cumulating in an “emergency session” last Tuesday that led to Menagh’s termination the following day.

President Barack Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline application today. The company can try again with a new route to the southern coast of the U.S., but I’m sure this decision will only strength Canadian aims to make its oilsands more accessible to China and the Asian market instead.

The Rideau Canal has opened to skaters. Okay, this isn’t exactly world news, but I am super pumped about it. Ottawa, here I come.

North Glengarry elected Chris McDonell its new mayor in a by-election on Monday, to replace Grant Crack who was voted MPP in the last provincial election. Jamie MacDonald finished in second place, behind by just 112 ballots.

The defence has rested in the “honour killings” trial in Kingston. Closing arguments will be made next week, and then the fate of Mohammad Shafia, his wife and their son – all charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of their three teenaged daughters/sisters and Shafia’s first wife – will be in the hands of a jury. We’ve talked about this one quite a lot in the newsroom, throwing out ideas of what have happened on that fateful night in June of 2009. I do not envy the deliberations and decisions that face those jurors next week.